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The relation between operator volume and mortality of primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI) procedures for ST-elevation myocardial infarction has not been studied comprehensively. This study included patients who underwent PPCI between 2010 and 2017 in all nonfederal hospitals approved to perform PCI in New York State. We compared risk-adjusted in-hospital/30-day mortality for radial access (RA) and femoral access (FA) and the relation between risk-adjusted mortality and procedure volume for each access site. In 44,540 patients in the study period, the use of RA rose from 8% in 2,010% to 43% in 2017 (p0.0001). There was no significant change in PPCI risk-adjusted mortality during the period (p=0.27 for trend). RA was associated with lower mortality when imposing operator exclusion criteria used in recent trials. There was a significant operator inverse volume-mortality relation for FA procedures but not for RA procedures. FA procedures performed by lower volume FA operators (lowest quartile) were associated with higher risk-adjusted mortality compared with RA procedures (3.71% vs 3.06%, p = 0.01) or compared with FA procedures performed by higher volume FA operators (3.71% vs 3.16%, p = 0.01). In conclusion, in patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction referred for primary PCI in New York State, there was a significant uptake in the use of RA along with relatively constant in-hospital/30-day mortality. There was a significant inverse operator volume-mortality relation for FA procedures accompanied by higher mortality for FA procedures performed by low volume FA operators than for all other primary PCI procedures. In conclusion, this information underscores the need for operators to remain vigilant in maintaining FA skills and monitoring FA outcomes.

Over the last 4 decades, percutaneous coronary intervention has evolved dramatically and is now an acceptable treatment option for patients with advanced coronary artery disease. However, trialists have struggled to establish the respective roles for percutaneous coronary intervention and coronary artery bypass graft surgery, especially in patients with multivessel disease and unprotected left-main stem coronary artery disease. Several pivotal trials and meta-analyses comparing these 2 revascularization strategies have enabled the relative merits of each technique to be established with regard to the type of ischemic syndrome, the coronary anatomy, and the patient's overall comorbidity. Precision medicine with individualized prognosis is emerging as an important method of selecting treatment. However, the never-ending advancement of technology, in conjunction with the emergence of novel pharmacological agents, will in the future continue to force us to reconsider the evolving question: "Which treatment strategy is better and for which patient?"

Background: Intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) has several benefits during percutaneous coronary interventions (PCIs), including more accurate vessel sizing, improved stent expansion, and better strut apposition. Prior clinical trials have demonstrated a reduction in cardiac events when IVUS is used. However, there is limited information about the utilization of IVUS and the outcomes of IVUS-guided versus angiography-guided PCI in patients with complex lesions in a contemporary population-based setting. Methods: New York’s PCI registry was used to identify 44 305 patients with complex lesions (lesions that complicate stenting or that require multiple stents) undergoing PCI with and without IVUS guidance and discharged between December 1, 2013 and November 30, 2018. Trends and inter-hospital variation in IVUS use were examined. Risk-adjusted mortality and target vessel revascularization were compared. Results: A total of 6174 (13.9%) PCI patients underwent IVUS-guided PCI. The median follow-up period was 2.5 years. The percent of patients with complex lesions who underwent IVUS-guided PCI rose from 13.4% in 2014 to 16.5% in 2018 ( P 5% of their study patients. IVUS-guided PCI patients experienced significantly lower mortality (adjusted hazard ratio=0.89 [0.79–0.98] after adjustment using a Cox proportional hazards model, and HR=0.88 [0.78–0.99] for propensity-matched patients). We also found that IVUS-guided PCI patients had a lower rate of target vessel revascularization (adjusted hazard ratio=0.88 [0.80–0.97]) after adjusting using Cox proportional hazards with competing risk of mortality and after propensity matching (0.88 [0.79–0.99]). Conclusions: Utilization of IVUS for complex lesions has increased but contemporary rates remain low, and there are large inter-hospital variations. The use of IVUS for complex lesions was associated with lower risk of medium-term mortality and target vessel revascularization.

Limited studies have evaluated regional disparities in the care of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) patients with cardiac arrest (CA). This study sought to evaluate 18-year national trends, resource utilization, and geographical variation in outcomes in AMI-CA admissions.Using the National Inpatient Sample (2000-2017), we identified adults with AMI and concomitant CA admitted to the United States census regions of Northeast, Midwest, South, and West. Clinical outcomes of interest included in-hospital mortality, use of coronary angiography, percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), mechanical circulatory support (MCS), hospitalization costs and length of stay. Of 9,680,257 admissions for AMI, 494,083 (5.1%) had concomitant CA. The West (6.0%) had higher prevalence compared to the Northeast (4.4%), Midwest (5.0%), and South (5.1%), p 0.001. Admissions in the West had higher rates of STEMI, cardiogenic shock, multiorgan failure, mechanical ventilation, and hemodialysis. Northeast admissions had lower use of coronary angiography (52.0% vs. 67.9% vs. 60.9% vs. 61.5%), PCI (38.7% vs. 51.9% vs. 44.8% vs. 46.7%), and MCS (18.4% vs. 21.8% vs. 18.1%, vs. 20.0%) compared to the Midwest, West and South (all p 0.001). Compared with the Northeast, adjusted in-hospital mortality was higher in the Midwest (odds ratio [OR] 1.06 [95% confidence interval {CI} 1.03-1.08]), South (OR 1.11 [95% CI 1.09-1.13]) and highest in the West (OR 1.16 [95% CI 1.13-1.18]), all p 0.001. Temporal trends showed a decline in in-hospital mortality except in the West, which showed a slight increase.There remain significant regional disparities in the management and outcomes of AMI-CA.

Background Numerous studies have identified the association of socio-economic factors with outcomes of cardiac surgical procedures. Most have focused on easily measured demographic factors or on socio-economic characteristics of patients’ 5-digit zip codes. The impact of socio-economic information that is derived from smaller geographic regions has rarely been studied. Methods The association of the Area Deprivation Index (ADI) with short-term mortality and readmissions was tested for patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) in New York while adjusting for numerous patient risk factors, including race, ethnicity, and payer. Changes in hospitals’ risk-adjusted outcomes and outlier status with the addition of socio-economic factors were examined. Results After adjustment, patients in the two most deprived ADI quintiles were more likely to experience in-hospital/30-day mortality following PCI (AOR = 1.39 (1.18, 1.65) and AOR = 1.24 (1.03, 1.49)), respectively, than patients in the first quintile (least deprived). Also, patients in the second (1.12 (1.01, 1.25)) and fifth (1.17 (1.04, 1.32)) ADI quintiles had higher 30-day readmissions rates than patients in the first quintile. Medicare patients had higher mortality and readmission rates, Hispanics had lower mortality, and Medicaid patients had higher readmission rates. Conclusions Patients with the most deprived ADIs are more likely to experience short-term mortality and readmissions following PCI. Ethnicity and payer are significantly associated with adverse outcomes even while adjusting for ADI. This information should be considered when identifying patients who are at the highest risk for adverse events following PCI, and when risk-adjusting hospital outcomes and assessing quality of care.

OBJECTIVE: To reanalyze the Bypass Angioplasty Revascularization Investigation 2 Diabetes (BARI 2D) Trial using a new composite cardiovascular disease (CVD) outcome to determine how best to treat patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and stable coronary artery disease (CAD). METHODS: From January 1, 2001 to November 30, 2008, 2,368 T2DM patients with angiographically defined CAD were randomly assigned to insulin sensitizing (IS) or insulin providing (IP) therapy and simultaneously to coronary revascularization (REV) versus no or delayed revascularization (MED) with all patients receiving intensive medical treatment. The outcome for this analysis was a composite of eight CVD events. RESULTS: Four-year composite CVD outcome Kaplan-Meier rates were 35.8% (95% CI: 33.1–38.5%) with IS versus 41.6% (38.7–44.5%) with IP (P=.004). Most of this difference was associated with lower in-trial levels of fibrinogen, c-reactive protein, and hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) with IS. Four-year composite CVD rates were 32.7% (30.0–35.4%) with REV versus 44.7% (41.8–47.6%) with MED (P

Background Target lesion percutaneous coronary intervention (TLPCI) within 1 year of PCI has been proposed by critics of public reporting of short-term mortality as an alternative measure for PCI reporting. Methods New York's PCI registry was used to identify 1-year repeat TLPCI and 1-year repeat TLPCI/mortality for patients discharged between December 1, 2013 and November 30, 2014. Significant independent predictors of the outcomes were identified. Hospital and cardiologist risk-adjusted outcomes were calculated, and outlier status and correlations of risk-adjusted rates were examined for the three outcomes. Results The adverse outcome rates were 1.30, 4.21, and 8.97% for in-hospital/30-day mortality, 1-year repeat TLPCI, and 1-year repeat TLPCI/mortality. There were many commonalities but also many differences in significant predictors of the outcomes. Hospital and cardiologist risk-adjusted 1-year repeat TLPCI rates and repeat TLPCI/mortality rates were poorly correlated with risk-adjusted in-hospital/30-day mortality rates (eg, Spearman R = -.16 [p = .23] and .27 [p = .04], respectively, for hospital 1-year repeat TLPCI vs. in-hospital/30-day mortality). Many more providers were found to have significantly higher and lower rates for repeat TLPCI than for short-term mortality. Conclusions Hospital and cardiologist quality assessments are very different for TLPCI and repeat TLPCI/mortality than they are for short-term mortality. Repeat TLPCI/mortality rates are highly correlated with repeat TLPCI rates, but outlier providers differ. More study of repeat TLPCI and all the patient, cardiologist, and hospital factors associated with it may be required before using it as a supplement to, or in lieu of, short-term mortality in public reporting of PCI outcomes.

OBJECTIVES To compare mortality for women and men hospitalized with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) by age and revascularization status. BACKGROUND There is little information on the mortality of men and women not undergoing revascularization, and the impact of age on relative male-female mortality needs to be revisited. METHODS AND RESULTS An observational database of 23,809 patients with STEMI presenting at nonfederal New York State hospitals between 2013 and 2015 was used to compare risk-adjusted inhospital/30-day mortality for women and men and to explore the impact of age on those differences. Women had significantly higher mortality than men overall (adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 1.15, 95% CI [1.04, 1.28]), and among patients aged 65 and older. Women had lower revascularization rates in general (AOR = 0.64 [0.59, 0.69]) and for all age groups. Among revascularized STEMI patients, women overall (AOR = 1.30 [1.10, 1.53]) and over 65 had higher mortality than men. Among patients not revascularized, women between the ages of 45 and 64 had lower mortality (AOR = 0.68 [0.48, 0.97]). CONCLUSIONS Women with STEMI, and especially older women, had higher inhospital/30-day mortality rates than their male counterparts. Women had higher mortality among revascularized patients, but not among patients who were not revascularized.

Little is known about regional differences in volume, treatment, and outcomes of STEMI patients undergoing PCI during the pandemic. The objectives of this study were to compare COVID-19 pandemic and prepandemic periods with respect to regional volumes, outcomes, and treatment of patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) for ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) between January 1, 2019 and March 14, 2020 (pre-COVID period) and between March 15, 2020 and April 4, 2020 (COVID period) in 51 New York State hospitals certified to perform PCI. The hospitals were classified as being in either high-density or low-density COVID-19 counties on the basis of deaths/10,000 population. There was a decrease of 43% in procedures/week in high-density COVID-19 counties (p